In between the lines
by SailorGuardian314
Summary: The last year of high school is always an emotional time for third years, especially for Mamoru Chiba. This is the year the nerd will confess his love for the bubbly Usagi Tsukino, while having tons of fun with all the characters in this high school trope. Will he confess his love for the girl of his dreams? Read and find out!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

(Sigh)

"Why are we at a DVD rental store?" Mamoru asked.

"Because, I'm getting tired of watching the Discovery channel, and I get it that we're on a break but come on, we're two teenaged male friends just watching how the animals mate."

Mamoru rolled his eyes at his friend's blunt comment, "Will you please just hurry up and pick a movie, we've been here for twenty minutes!"

"Fine… let's watch Alien!"

"No thanks, get Predator"

"Alien!"

"Hiroshi, we always get what you want and we've been over 20 movies already and most of them were your choice, come on let me pick Predator" Mamoru countered.

"But Mamoru, Alien is the classic sci-fi extraterrestrial film that jumpstarted the whole genre, next time we'll watch Predator, I promise,"

"I won't take your word this time, you promise-breaker"

The short boy, whose name is Hiroshi, gave out a small sighed in defeat. "Okay we'll take Predator, you win!"

Smirking proudly, the two friends headed towards to the front to check out their movies.

"Maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger's character could you make manly enough to confess your feelings to a certain blond" Hiroshi added to Mamoru.

"Hey!" a furiously blushed Mamoru announced loudly.

"Find anything you two were looking for?" a dark- haired female employee asked in a monotone.

"Yes we did, here you go!" Hiroshi said to the girl as he placed all 3 movies on the counter so she could scan them.

"It looks like you have some extra points to spend on snacks and beverages, do you want to use them?"

"Sure why not? Mamoru…"

"I'll go get them" he said in his usual monotone voice.

Randomly grabbing popcorn and some candy, he walked over back to the front. As they paid for their stuff, Mamoru heard a familiar laughter that broke through the moment.

"Okay, ready to go? Mamoru?"

Looking over to him, Hiroshi followed his line of direction towards a group of girls in front of them. Giving out a sarcastic laugh, Hiroshi abruptly called out to one of the girls.

"Hey Usagi!"

Breaking out of trace, Mamoru felt his body freeze and tensed up at the same time. "Hiroshi!" he whispered-yelled at his friend's action.

The group of girls turned their gazes at the two boys, a petite blonde girl with long hair waved cheerfully at them, "Hey Hiroshi, Mamoru, fancy seeing you two here," Usagi said.

"Hahaha I know! Mamoru and I are just here to get some movies to watch over our spring break! Right Mamoru?" Hiroshi asked his socially-awkward friend. "Yes…." Mamoru said it in a very shyly voice, unlike his usual voice.

_Great, _Hiroshi thought, his friend was stuck on the spot.

Sensing the arising awkward atmosphere, "Well I hope you have a great break Usagi-chan! See ya later" he said with his practiced friendly smile, they walked out of the store.

Releasing a deep breathe, Mamoru walked ahead of Hiroshi. "I'm such an idiot, I just stood there like an idiot!" he groaned over to himself, with Hiroshi taking the chance to tease him lightly.

"Sorry to interrupt your internal struggles, but yeah you were an idiot"

"You're not helping!"

"But, of course I love you like a bro so just think of my honest response to your love life as a way to not be a lovesick baka," Hiroshi advised Mamoru.

Glancing over to his friend, Mamoru with slight annoyance in his eyes, "You're still not helping."

"Well, take my advice; just tell her how you feel. It's not like she doesn't know you, so just take this chance before someone else snatches her away,"

"Yeah sure because I'm so bold" he said sarcastically. "I'm always getting so ridiculously shy around her, and besides I'm way out of her league."

Hiroshi rolled his eyes this time with Mamoru's comment, "Like I'll let you sit in the sidelines in your lovesick problems, it's our final year as third years so might as well make this year you'll confess your love to her," he answered to him.

"Come on, no more sulking Mamoru. We have movies to watch!"

Continuing their walk back to their apartment, Mamoru thought of Hiroshi's suggestion. It was their last year as high school students and maybe it was time to confess his feelings to Usagi.

.

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.

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_Here is my first ever Slice of Life fanfic with Usagi and Mamoru (and some OC characters) and yes it's a High School trope. I was brave enough to published it with the help of some of the writers in the Sailor Moon community._

_Special thanks to Kasienda who took out her time to beta test the prologue, you're the BEST! And Nebelflecke for her encouragement, you are awesome!_

_Enjoy the chapter! -SailorGuardian314_


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One; Ramen date on New Year's

_The snowy wonderland covered the playground and the surrounding area of the nicely kept orphanage, where a young boy of six years old was holding a ball of the same fluffy and icy snow._

"_Onii-chan!"_

_The six year old turns to his right, his stormy eyes catching sight of a smaller boy; his crystal eyes gleaming with happiness. "Let's have a snowball fight onii-chan!" his small hand grasping onto Mamoru's._

_Mamoru softly smiled at his friend as they run off to play in the snow, the two social workers nearby were overlooking at the two children; discussing their future._

"_I heard that their families were very close and in their will, they wanted their children to be together, y'know that their families' joint business is the Chiba-Shields Corporation, making them both joint heirs. I'm sure their parents would've want them together, for the sake of the company" one of the two social workers said to the other._

"_I'm pretty sure that isn't the case Furukawa-san, it seems like they were destined to be very close-knitted friends,"_

_The two continued to look at the two children whom were still playing their snowball fight._

"Mamoru?"

Midnight blue eyes lit up at the sound of his name being called nearby, he looked down at his friend, who was trying to get his attention.

"Look, look! Snow's falling!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

Mamoru saw the falling snow as his friend pointed at it the marvelous wonder, bringing back some fond memories.

The second term of school had ended a while back and every student were already enjoying their winter break, and that included Mamoru and Hiroshi, who were visiting their local shrine for New Year's.

Despite the chilly weather, many came out to greet the new year with *omamori, Hikawa Shrine was filled by the time the boys got there. It got really busy during the first days of New Year's, and it was early evening as Mamoru had insisted to do their big clean-up of the year.

Although he was very tired, Hiroshi wanted to go to Hikawa Shrine to have their first visit of the New Year. After getting their good luck charms, the two boys were up next in line to pray for a happy and safe year.

Hiroshi proceeds to ring the bell, each throwing a coin to the offertory box, bowing two times, clapping their hands twice again and each one praying anything for the new year.

"_Thank you for bringing us another good year and please allow us to safely graduate our final year of high school_" Mamoru prayed over, excluding oneselfless wish of having some self -confidence, especially for a certain blonde that he wanted to confess to.

Hiroshi, on the other hand, was praying differently than his older friend. "_Please give Mamoru the happiness that I want him to have, along with some confidence to overcome any challenges he might have in the near future."_

After finishing their prayers, the boys ends the ritual with one more bow.

"Not going to tell me what you prayed for?" the short boy asked Mamoru as they walked away from the long line they had waited.

"No way, you're just going tease me about"

Hiroshi laugh softly, "Hey now, I am not that heartless!"

"Hmm"

They were on their way home, as both of them were exhausted from their excessive cleaning (Hiroshi teased Mamoru for his near obsessive neat freak habits) walking down the steps from the shrine, they encountered Usagi and her group of friends, each in their own kimono.

"Hi Mamoru, hi Hiroshi!" the bubbly blonde gleefully greeted the two boys, her usual cheerful smile plastered on her pale face, her long blonde hair fluttering behind.

Mamoru knew he was gazing at the beautiful blonde but he couldn't help it since she was dressed in a pale pink kimono with white laced flowers, her hair was styled in her usual odangos hairstyle.

_And here I am in a hoodie and jeans _he thought poorly about his appearance. "Hey Usagi-chan, nice running into you and everyone" Hiroshi greeted back.

Pulling Mamoru into the group, they chatted away like the close group of friends they were.

"So you're visiting Rei at her shrine today?" Mamoru asked the girls.

"Yeah, we're going to have a sleepover!" Usagi answered back, a small pink blush on her pale cheeks. Minako and Hiroshi saw this and looked at each other with a gleeful mischief in their eyes.

"Say- how about we get some late night dinner at our usual ramen shop? It will be our first meal of the new year!" Minako said in very mischievous way.

"Yeah Usagi, let's go!" Hiroshi added in, watching his friend's blush go deeper than before. Looking up at Usagi, Mamoru mustered up his courage, "T-that sounds like a great idea, we haven't done anything together for New Year's so might as well have some ramen,"

Seeing her beautiful face light up at his request was something he never wanted to forget. "Alright! We're getting some good ramen tonight!" Makoto announced to the group, they soon made plans to meet up again at the ramen shop with their miko friend much later.

After Rei was done with her Miko duties at the shrine, despite how busy it was. The girls did their own prayers and getting their own good luck charms, time went by quickly and before they know it, it was time to arrive at the ramen shop.

But each of them knew that the only ones that would be there was Usagi and Mamoru.

It was all planned by Minako and Hiroshi's mischievous natures, as they knew that the two dorky friends were both secretly pinning for one another.

"Knowing those two, they're going to be a bundle of nervous bufferflies when they realize that they're going to be alone" Makoto said as they made their to the nearby festival.

"I hope that Usagi doesn't make a fool of herself in front of Mamoru-kun" Rei added to the conversation, with Ami smiling softly at her friends' comments. "Now now girls, I'm sure everything is going to be fine with their unsuspected date."

"Minako better tell us how it goes!"

The girls continued to laugh at their silly comments of their adorable lovesick friends.

The atmosphere in the ramen shop was suffocating, is what Mamoru was described best. While the shop itself was still warm and comfy, though they were near the window where they could feel a little cold air, it was still warm.

Mamoru, in his part, was almost mad at his friends actions. He knew that it was Hiroshi's doing as the younger boy had said many times that he needed to make a move on the bubbly blonde.

"_You need to be honest with your feelings!" _Hiroshi would say to him many times and finally here he was with the object of his affections.

"I can't believe the girls ditched us here!" Usagi pouted away as she looks over the menu. "I'm so sorry Mamoru, I didn't planned to waste your time" she remorsefully said, a sad gleam in her beautiful crystal blue eyes.

"N-no! I'm fine here with you, you're not wasting my time!"

"Are you sure? I'm surprised Hiroshi isn't with you here," Usagi observed. He chuckled at her comment, "That's a first, he's always nearby."

Usagi giggled in response, her usual cheerful smile was shown again. As they ordered their usual ramen; Usagi getting her spicy tonkotsu ramen with chicken pieces on the side and Mamoru, his chicken ramen.

Somehow, the atmosphere between the two had soften into a comfortable bubble, savoring their own ramen.

Nearby, Minako and Hiroshi were watching them. "Great idea of setting up their ramen date, Minako!" Hiroshi said to the red ribbon wearing blonde who in turn smiled back.

"Those two need to realize that they're made for one another, as adorable they are when they're around each other," the blonde twin said to the small boy.

As Usagi and Mamoru continued with their ramen, they made small talk in the meantime. "If you don't mind me asking, how long have you known Hiroshi?" her gentle voice asked the older boy.

"I've known him since I was very young, we both grew up together," Mamoru excluded the orphanage part as he knew it was still a sensitive part of their lives. "That's cute, so you're childhood friends!"

Mamoru lets out a soft chuckle, "You could say that, our parents were friends with each other, being the understanding girl that she was, Usagi didn't pressure Mamoru into telling him the whole story of his childhood. From what Motoki had told her, Mamoru was a very reserved person, especially with his past.

Finishing up her ramen, Usagi pops out of her seat with a satisfying groan from her lips, "That was a GREAT Ramen!" she exclaimed cheerfully. Chuckling once more, Mamoru felt a warmth in his chest at her sight.

"Isn't that a great sight to see, Mamoru Chiba laughing? My, you should do that more often!" her beautiful voice said to the handsome older boy, who blushed slightly.

He was about to say something when Usagi lets out an outburst, not at him but at the people nearby them. Minako and Hiroshi tried to hide but Usagi beat them to it. "And here I thought you guys ditched us!" the bubbly blonde criticized the two.

Mamoru, immediately got up and walked over to Hiroshi and scolded the young boy. "I can't believe you Hiroshi!"

The boy only smiled at his friend's outburst, "Well you know that I want you to own up your feelings, I only helped out so you could the first step of doing such that."

"Mamoru?"

He turned around to see Usagi in front of him, with that same smile he always loved, "I had a great time with you, even though it was just a ramen dinner that was meant to be with friends but still I had a good time with you,"

"M-me too!"

Again his mind was like an train wreck, affecting his speech a little. Which was still adorable. The two blondes leave with a cheerful goodbye, Mamoru turned to Hiroshi with a stern look on his face, "I know you planned this!"

Hiroshi only grin back at Mamoru, "C'mon let's go home, I'm so tired from today!"

Mamoru didn't let up from his friend's response, "Not until you tell me if it's true or not!"

"What's true?"

"You know what I mean!"

"No I don't"

"Yes you do!"

"Nope!"

"You better tell me right now, you little otaku!"

"Not unless you catch me first, neat freak!"

Hiroshi ran from Mamoru who chased down the petite boy

"Come back here!"

Hiroshi laughed at Mamoru as they ran back home. It's not like he could tell him that he did indeed planned the whole thing, it was just much funnier this way.

AN; Here is Chapter One of In between the lines! I finally updated this little trope of mine, since some of you readers loved the prologue! That makes me happy, even though I'm still working on other writing projects!

Reviews are always welcome! And until Chapter Two which I hope isn't too long.

-SailorGuardian314 ;)

BTW, *omamori are good luck charms that shrines and temples sell during the seven days of the new year.


End file.
